CapRadio News Top Stories Of 2013

2013 saw a lot of big stories, from the Kings almost moving to Seattle, to the Rim Fire, to the California State budget, we dug deep to bring you new angles, different perspectives and extensive coverage on the news of the year. Now's the time when we reflect on the stories that stuck with us.

2013 saw a lot of changes for the Kings. With narrowly saving the NBA team from moving to Seattle, new owners and plans for a new Arena, there's been plenty to discuss, celebrate and cover when it comes to the Sacramento Kings.

In October, a 12-year-old took a semi-automatic weapon to school and killed one teacher and wounded two students, leaving a town grieving the loss of a beloved educator and reeling from a horrific tragedy.

It's one of the largest sources of water for the world's 8th largest economy. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been called the heart of California's water system. As lawmakers, conservationists, farmers, policy experts and others debate the future of the Delta, this five-part series tells the story of how the region both connects and divides Californians.

Suspect Sammy Duran surrendered ending the standoff that began following the shooting of an ICE agent and wounding of four other police officers. Police say a robot was used to communicate with Duran and end the standoff.

Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul had more than 300 passengers and crew members aboard when it made a hard landing, lost the tail and caught on fire at San Francisco International Airport in July, resulting in two fatalities.

Those were our picks for top stories of 2013, what stories captured you this year? Leave your picks for top news in the comment section below.

Ben Adler's Picks For The Top Five Capitol Stories

5. Supermajority

By and large this year, Democrats had the votes when they needed them to do what they needed to do. The big question a year ago was how would the democrats use the power of the super majority. There were questions of raising taxes, which didn't really happen this year.

There's been a commitment to this law in California that has not been impeded by one political party or another having the votes to slow its implimentation, the way the federal healthcare law has. Additionally the California site has functioned better than Healthcare.gov.

Flashback to January, this is what Governor Jerry Brown said, as he filed court papers seeking to get rid of the federal court oversite of prisons, "We dont have a lot of money, we have to pay down the wall of debt. We have uncertain ecnonomic times, we can't pour more and more dollars into the rat hole of incardiration."

Yet the state continues to put more money into the state prison system, the courts demand the overcrowding end. Late this year the governor approved more money for the prison system.

A few years back there was a 40 billion dollar deficit, when the governor took office in January 2011 there was a 26 billion dollar deficit. There is a lot of unfunded obligations, but as far as budgeting the State's in a surplus. Looking back to the days of IOUs, furloughs, and cut backs - take that all and add it up it makes the budget surplus a big story for this year.